THIS year’s Unison national delegate conference takes place just weeks before a general election. There couldn’t be a more opportune time for us to highlight key changes that need to be made in our country.

As Britain’s largest healthcare union, it is vital that we push to put NHS and social care to the top of the new government’s agenda.

The history of the past 30 years has shown the continued failure of outsourcing and privatisation of our services. From the creation of private finance initiatives in 1992, to the Health and Care Act of 2012.

Unison has warned of the dire consequences of PFI since its creation, with recent reports showing that contracts will end up costing £199 billion by the time they end in the 2040s.

So, what is the solution? In 2018 the Tory government announced it would not be signing new PFI contracts in future. However, the outstanding debts remain and will remain for years and generations to come. As this current government limps to the ballot box, all eyes are on a probable incoming Labour government.

It is not enough to sit back and wait as affiliates to the Labour Party. As a union, we must be snapping at the heels of the next government to influence and help create policy that not only benefits our members, but public services which affects the lives of the working class as a whole.

So far, the signs are more worrying than they are triumphant. Shadow secretary of state for health and social care Wes Streeting, has rightly faced backlash from Unison members over his continued defence of private healthcare in the NHS. This included calls for him not to address Unison health conference this past April.

There were also ominous noises from New Labour PFI architect, Lord John Hutton, now chair of the Association of Infrastructure Investors in Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) — a body representing PFI investors. In the FT he stated that “it’s ironic that the UK designed PPPs yet we are the only country that doesn’t have a model for it going forward.”

Following the release of their manifestos, analysis by the Nuffield Trust reveals that both Labour and Tory manifestos would squeeze health spending.

As the time ticks on in this election, it has become clear just how out of touch with the realities of the NHS and social care the Tories and Labour are. I have spent the past 11 years as a registered nurse in the NHS and many years as a trade unionist. The visible decline in services has gone from a back-door whisper to an open secret.

We see staff in NHS trusts constantly battling outsourced payroll companies, pharmacies swallowed up by big chains, domestic services bought by companies with long track records of union-busting and anti-worker rhetoric. In 2021, my branch and more than 150 NHS porters, cleaners, switchboard and catering staff staged successful strike action against Mitie, which eventually led to the company backing down.

But not all hope is lost. We as a member-led union have the power in our hands to create radical change and influence. The last two years have seen healthcare workers take the largest industrial action in modern times. As NHS staff await an already three months late “pay award,” it is vital that as a union we take bold action going forward.

There has been no indication that an incoming Labour government would halt any ongoing restructuring in the NHS. This means that thousands of NHS staff are currently in consultation across the country over TUPE agreements and further mergers and outsourcing.

A change of government is long overdue but it will bring no respite in the struggle for a People’s NHS — publicly funded and publicly provided.

Iain Mooney is a Unison activist in the NHS.